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Question 7 transcript:
"I'm not sure it's a skill, I'd say the most important thing is to have an open mind. And that's true of any part of science, I think. You have to go in and don't assume. It's good to have a good theory. And you want to do that by observing the animals but then, especially as an anatomist, the whole idea is to let the animal tell you. The one thing is to let the animal's anatomy tell you how it's put together and how it works. When we do an investigation into the cause of death of an animal, don't assume anything. Just go in and let the animal's body tell you its story and what happened to it. So all of these things, the same with people; it's just the same. The most important thing is keep your eyes open for something new, that you don't expect, that's when the most fun is. In terms of real skills, what every student doesn't want to hear, math, physics, chemistry; all of the stuff that's not really easy to do. And it doesn't frankly hurt to have a general background in natural history. Don't know just about, you shouldn't know just about marine mammals, but there are all kinds of things. Bats are a good way to become informed about how bio-sonar works. That field is light-years ahead of anything we know about marine mammals in many ways. So you have to have as broad an interest set as you can tolerate, if you've got time for it."

1. How did you first become interested in science?
2. What is the focus of your research and why did you choose this field of study?
3. What have been some of the recent discoveries about how marine mammals hear?
4. How do you study the hearing of marine mammals?
5. What challenges have you faced in studying the hearing of marine mammals?
6. What has most surprised you about the hearing of marine mammals?
7. What skills are important in your area of research?
8. What are the opportunities in studying the hearing of marine mammals? Can people without PhDs participate in some way in this type of research?
9. What is the greatest impact/relevance of your research?
10. What continues to inspire you about your work?
11. What advice would you give a high school student who expressed an interest in pursuing a career in your field?